Iga Swiatek
The No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek will lock horns with the world No. 23 Caty McNally in the quarter-finals of the Ostrava Open on Friday.
The world No. 1 came into the tournament on the back of a sensational campaign in the US Open. Swiatek won her third Grand Slam title and second in 2022 after defeating Ons Jabeur in the final in Flushing Meadows.
The 21-year-old received a first-round bye and faced Ajla Tomljanovic in the round of 16. The Australian showed her tenacity in the first set and gave Swiatek a good run for her money. The Polish sensation eventually took the set 7-5. Swiatek was in the lead 7-5, 2-2 when Tomljanovic was forced to retire owing to a left knee injury.
The 20-year-old has had some fine results this year in the doubles circuit. However, her returns have not been as great in singles competitions. She failed to qualify for the main-draw of the Tallinn Open but has been quite impressive so far in Ostrava.
She won her two qualifying matches against Wang Xiyu and Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in straight sets. In the round of 32, McNally made light work of Anna Blinkova, and won the match 6-1, 6-2. McNally showed some grit and determination to get past Karolina Muchova in the round of 16 to win the match 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.
The head-to-head scoreline stands at 0-0 as Swiatek and McNally have not faced each other before at the tour level. However, they did face each other at the 2018 French Open juniors and McNally got the better of Swiatek 3-6, 7-6, 6-4.
Prediction: Iga Swiatek to win in straight sets.
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